Reconciliation
by Casey Toh
Summary: Dick talks to his mentor again


Disclaimer: All characters in this fan fiction belong to Warner Bros. And this story is meant as pure, simple fun.

This is my first time doing a fan fic, and I did it while I was half asleep, so forgive me for my mistakes and rubbish. Comments are most welcome.

Reconciliation

Nightwing crouched atop his favorite gargoyle on the Gotham Library, scanning the roads and alleys below for any sign of trouble. For once, everything was quiet, and he allowed his mind to drift back to the past, back when he moved out of Wayne Manor and the Bat-team to strike out on his own as Nightwing.

It had been over two years since Batman had fired him after he got shot by the Joker. Ha! He thought. I was the one who got shot and he fired me.

Nightwing had quarreled with Batman very heatedly and said a lot of unforgivable things, things which he regretted saying. He had thought of apologizing to Batman many times, but pride did not allow him to do so.

With a heavy sigh, Nightwing returned his mind to the present. He activated the comm.-link to Oracle. "Hey Beautiful, anything up?"

"I was just about to contact you. The Thorne gang had just kidnapped a kid and his father. They're being held at the old Gotham Harbor warehouse. It seems they stole Thorne's money," Oracle informed.

"Might as well make myself useful. Nightwing out." He jumped and snapped open skin-like flaps under each arm, which caught the air and slowed his descend. He then started his Nightwing Cycle, hoping he was in time to save the two.

Nightwing always had bad impression of gangs, especially Gotham ones. He reached the warehouse in record time of fifteen minutes, which was a wonder he didn't get a speeding ticket. Once there, he headed to the roof and surveyed the situation through the skylights.

An old man and a kid were tied to chairs. The man's body slumped over his bonds, and Nightwing suspected he was already dead. I came too late to save his dad, Nightwing thought, but I can sure save his son.

Just as the four men were about to punch the kid to death, something black whirled out of the darkness and hit their wrists in turn. Bones broke, and curses were uttered.

"What the-?" the first man strained his eyes to see their attacker. Out of the darkness came Nightwing, almost as scary as Batman himself. "It's the Batboy! Run!"

The four did not get too far before bolas wound around their hands and feet, causing them to fall to the ground, and stay there, securely bound. That taken care of, Nightwing called the cops and proceeded to release the boy of no more than twelve, who instantly ran to his father, sobbing.

It broke Nightwing's heart to see that. Standing there staring at the boy, his mind was transported back to the time when the Joker shot him…

-----------------------

"Robin!" He heard Batman cry out. He sounded as if he was far away. He felt hot all over and stickiness in is shoulder. What happened? He wondered, before giving in to the welcoming darkness.

The next thing he was aware of was that he was lying in a bed and was bandaged up, most probably by Leslie. Bruce was sitting beside him, an uncharacteristic worry etched on his face. When he opened his eyes, Bruce's relief was profound. "Dick."

Dick gave his mentor a bright smile. "Hey, I'm still alive and kicking. Don't worry, I'll heal."

That was when Bruce dropped the bomb. "You are not to wear the Robin costume ever again, you understand me?" he roared. "I will not have the life of a child, especially mine, on my hands!"

Dick only stared at Bruce, not comprehending. Not wear the Robin costume again? He looked at Bruce and could feel the fierce anger that radiated from the older man, and knew he had no choice. "I understand."

That was the day Dick's patience was lost and he decided to leave.

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Coming back to the present, Nightwing silently made a promise to himself to try to mend their broken relationship. But first things first, he thought as he hurried to the boy's side and gently comforted him. He felt as if he was also comforting himself, and only left when the cops arrived.

"Nightwing?" Oracle's voice came over the comm.-link.

"Yeah, I'm here. Sorry I was out so long, Babs. I have something to take care of now. It's very important."

"And that is?" Oracle inquired.

"I'm going to have a serious heart-to-heart with Bruce tonight. I'm not going to give up on our relationship just like that."

"You're right, Dick. Go for it, and tell him I love and miss him."

"Check. Over and out."

***********************

Nearing 2a.m, Dick entered the cave through the manor, confidently evading any security features Bruce had installed long ago. He hoped Alfred was asleep, for this was going to be a very sensitive talk.

As Dick descended down the stairs that led to the cave, the screeching of bats brought back memories, and he smiled.

Just as he was about to get Bruce's attention, the man spoke up. "You need to work on your stealth skills more."

Dick jumped, and glared at his mentor as Bruce turned around to face him. "Bruce, we need to talk."

For once, Dick's seriousness actually made Bruce agree that they needed to talk. And to talk serious, he switched into 'Batman' mode. "All right."

The tone of his voice made Dick realize that Bruce had became Batman. "I want to talk to Bruce, not Batman," he insisted.

Bruce sighed. "I can see you're very serious about this. Go on."

Dick took a deep breath. "Bruce, I know I have left the team long ago because of our worsening relationship. I love you Bruce, like my real Dad, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting that I didn't even try to save it."

Bruce thought about what his surrogate son had said, and knew he was right. "You're right, Dick. The two years spent in isolation, it's given us to cool down and think. And I want to talk."

"I heard there's another Robin. So who's the lucky kid?"

"Timothy Drake." Bruce paused for a moment, unsure of how to continue. "Dick, I'm very sorry for booting you out of the team. I was disappointed with myself for not having protected you. Your hurt caused me great pain, but— 

"But you loved me and wanted what was best for me." Dick nodded. "I know that now. Bruce, I saw a kid's father die tonight, and the kid was devastated. I thought if he could love his dad like that, I should honor him by at least telling you how I feel."

Bruce placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I was angry at you for leaving, Dick, and convinced myself I didn't need you. I took Jason in, trained him to be Robin, and even dyed his hair to look like yours. I didn't know it then, but I was missing you. But that didn't mean I didn't love Jason."

Dick looked at his father, stared deep into those midnight-blue eyes of his. Beneath the clam surface were raging torrents of pain, uncertainty, love and hurt. "Bruce, what I want to say is: let's try to mend out relationship. I don't want it to go on like that. If we don't do anything about it, we'll regret it for the rest of our lives."

Bruce's heart lurched at the thought of never getting back with his son again just because of their differences and quarrels. A steely determination resolved within him, and he knew he would never let his relationship with Dick break down.

"Dick," he started slowly, "I know I'm not very good at talking but I have to try. When my parents died, a part of me stopped growing. I created the Batman persona to fight crime, but the real reason was to protect the eight-year-old Bruce inside me from getting hurt again."

Dick gave his mentor an encouraging nod.

"When I took you in and trained you, I thought I was doing you a favor by giving you an outlet for your anger. That was partly the reason. I realized that I needed someone to protect directly. It was you who kept me sane, kept me from falling into the abyss of despair with the knowledge that I could never rid Gotham completely of crime.

You kept me from crossing the line into killing someone. You opened my heart and made me love and hope again without realizing it, and these were things I rejected since the beginning. 'Losing control' of my emotions made me angry, and I tried to chase you away. That was the biggest mistake I ever made."

"Bruce, I made big mistakes too." Dick paced around the cave. "I didn't understand how you showed your love for me, and resented you for firing me. Over the last few years, my conscience has been bugging me to talk to you, to sort things out."

Bruce was losing his courage to talk to Dick, but was determined to see this through. "Dick, I love you. Let's just give out father-son relationship another chance."

"I love you too, Dad. And yes, we have to try again," Dick conceded.

"But there will be a lot of hurt, sadness and anger," Bruce said. "Are you ready for it?"

Dick hugged his father, and received one in return. "With you by my side, I'll always be ready to face anything."

Thus, a reconciliation has begun.

THE END


End file.
